You Can Choose What to Believe?

by Sebastian R Fama

I have always been puzzled by Christians who claim they can pick and choose what to believe. Being a Christian implies a worship of God. And presumably, we worship Him because He is the supreme being who created us and who will judge us on the last day. Logically then, one would assume that such a God would have left clear instructions on what He expects from us. And indeed, He has.

In the Great Commission Jesus said to His apostles: “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, to the close of the age” (Matthew 28:18-20).

That sure sounds like Jesus covered all the bases. He told His apostles to teach all that He commanded them. He then guaranteed that He would be with them until the Second Coming (close of the age). His always being with the Church guarantees that it will never teach error. Thus, we would know exactly what He expects from us and consequently, what He will judge us on. Leaving us alone to figure it out for ourselves would be an act of cruelty.

Furthermore, when we presume to define who God is, we become the creator, and He becomes the creature. But such can never be the case. Jesus is God and as such He is the author of all truth. And His message is clear. He said: ”I am the way, and the Truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but by me” (John14:6). In other words, “by observing all that He commanded.” That excludes your picking and choosing what to believe.

Jesus has the words of eternal life (John 6:68). He entrusted those words and His authority to His Church (Matthew 16:18-19). Paul said, the Church is the pillar and foundation of truth (1 Timothy 3:15). And that is why we do not have the option to reject anything the Church teaches. Jesus made this point crystal clear when He said to His apostles: “He who hears you hears me, and he who rejects you rejects me, and he who rejects me rejects Him who sent me” (Luke 10:16). The apostles were the first leaders of His Church.

Nowhere in Scripture or in human experience do we see the teachings of the Catholic Church disproved. And, as I mentioned elsewhere, the writings of the Early Church Fathers are unapologetically Catholic. They give witness to the unchanging doctrines of the one Church established by Christ. This is in stark contrast to the ever-changing doctrines of the other Christian bodies. They may be well-meaning. But established by Christ they are not. So, no you cannot pick and choose what to believe. You either hear Christ through His Church and accept Him. Or you look elsewhere and reject Him.